A Haunting Melody: The Golden Lyre

09 | Phi

The symbol Phi (φ) is gifted to a Hunter who successfully kills a Siren that was actively compelling them. This Mark gives the Hunter the ability to speak to other Hunters with this Mark, telepathically.

***

"It's a key," Daniel said, staring blankly at the little bronze key sitting in Astrid's hand.

"Thank you for that marvellous insight, Captain Obvious," she said sarcastically.

She marvelled at the size of it. The key was incredibly small. It reminded her of the little golden keys which were used to unlock music boxes or even the ones that girls used to have to lock their diaries.

"So what is it for?" Daniel asked.

"How would I know?" she asked irritably.

"Maybe there's a fairy house nearby," Daniel smirked mischievously.

Astrid glared at him.

"What? Fairies could be real!" he said defensively.

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, so you don't believe in fairies, Siren Hunter?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

She didn't say a word as she made her way back down the stairs. She was too tired to bother arguing with Daniel anymore. It had been a long night.

"Astrid, wait," Daniel called out in a resigned tone, following her down the steps.

"It's dawn," she said calmly, once she had opened the front door.

Soft, red light poured into the room through the open door. The sun was just peeking over the top of the surrounding buildings.

"Let's get out of here," he said seriously, glancing back at the auditorium.

Astrid nodded and quickly exited the building, Daniel close behind her. She didn't notice herself stop once she was outside. She couldn't resist looking at the sunrise. She let out a sigh of contentment as she watched the deep red colour slowly transition into burnt orange, and then a soft pink.

"What day is it? Do you have school?" Daniel asked suddenly, shocking Astrid back into reality.

"It's Saturday," she replied, smiling to herself.

"Oh," he said bashfully, "so do you have to go home, or can I take you out today?" he asked coolly.

Astrid looked up at him, barely concealing the panic in her eyes.

"You mean like a date?" she asked unsurely.

"No, more like a play-date. Just two friends hanging out," he said casually.

Astrid let out a sigh of relief.

After a brief pause, Astrid shrugged and said, "okay."

They slowly made their way to Daniel's truck and got inside. Astrid's first thought was to open his glove box to put the little key inside for safe-keeping. She opened the glove box and paused, raising an eyebrow at Daniel.

"You wear glasses?" she asked, holding up a glasses case.

"No, they were my dad's. This used to be his truck," Daniel shrugged.

"Oh," Astrid said, not wanting to push the topic.

She gently put the case back where she found it and pulled the piece of parchment she had found wrapped around the key, out of her pocket. She carefully wrapped the parchment around the key. She decided to pull the case back out and slipped the wrapped up key into the case.